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As the saying goes, you can’t just throw money at a problem.
Todd Boehly’s Clearlake consortium have ploughed more than £600m into a Chelsea side that finished third last season.
Clearly they expected something better than a campaign spent scrabbling around mid-table – the Blues are likely to set their record-lowest points after five defeats from five under Frank Lampard.
But how far is this squad from being in top-four contention? Are shoots of recovery sprouting beneath the surface?
With Mauricio Pochettino in advanced talks to take over, will he find a squad that is close to rediscovering its identity?
BBC Sport enlisted the help of regular fan writer Will Faulks from Chelsea News to pick through the squad issues – and you can grade each position from A-F too.
Goalkeeper – ‘A long-established weak point’
The £71m world record signing of Kepa Arrizabalaga in August 2018 was supposed to fill the hole left by Thibaut Courtois when he departed for Real Madrid. It didn’t.
Africa Cup of Nations winner Edouard Mendy briefly held the gloves after signing from Rennes in September 2020, but became second in line under Graham Potter and has remained so under Lampard.
Faulks: This is a long-established weak point in the team as each successive incumbent has failed to impress over a long period. A lot of Chelsea’s defensive issues can be traced back to the lack of a commanding, confident figure in goal and that desperately needs to be fixed this summer.
Full-back – ‘Questionable’ replacements
On their pitch, Ben Chilwell and Reece James are among the best full-backs in Europe.
It’s just their on-pitch appearances are all too rare with both spending a lot of time on the sidelines through injury.
Faulks: There are two brilliant first choice options and Malo Gusto looks set to be a good back-up for James on the right.
The left side is more questionable after Marc Cucurella’s largely horrific debut season, but both Ian Maatsen and Lewis Hall are pushing hard for promotion to the first team.
Central defence – ‘Well stocked’
On paper, Chelsea have plenty of options and will be even better set when Levi Colwill returns from his successful season on loan at Brighton.
They have conceded the third-fewest goals in the league this season, so they must be doing something right.
Faulks: Injuries permitting, this should be another area where Chelsea are well stocked.
Thiago Silva and Kalidou Koulibaly bring the experience, Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile are brilliant young alternatives, and Colwill is one of the top prospects in the whole league.
Central midfield – ‘Great on their day’
Chelsea’s engine room is stacked with talent – Premier League record signing Enzo Fernandez marries silk with steel while there are few better in world football than N’Golo Kante at running a midfield.
Mateo Kovacic and Conor Gallagher bring tenacity and dynamism – but are they all a bit similar?
Faulks: Fernandez, Kovacic and Kante are great options on their day, with Conor Gallagher and Ruben Loftus-Cheek providing good and versatile home-grown back-ups. We sorely need someone with a really strong defensive skillset to bring some balance to this group.
Attacking midfield – ‘Choose who to get rid of’
Neither Thomas Tuchel, Potter nor seemingly Lampard have been able to work out the conundrum of who to pick in midfield.
Chelsea’s attack has spluttered whatever the combination – and it will take some dismantling this summer to figure out who works.
However, with Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech and, potentially, Mason Mount seemingly on their way out of Stamford Bridge, it may make the equation simpler for the new boss.
Faulks: There are almost too many options here, and it will be more of a matter of choosing who to get rid of than who to buy.
Noni Madueke and Mykhailo Mudryk will be the future, and Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling can be the present – but only if our new manager can work out how to get them playing anywhere close to their potential.
Striker – ‘A hard problem to solve’
Chelsea’s lack of goals has been stark this season. Just 30 scored in 32 league games and only one goal in all competitions in their past seven games.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is not the long-term answer, January signing David Datro Fofana is raw while Armando Broja remains in recovery from the knee injury that ended his season.
They do also have a near-£100m striker on their books in Romelu Lukaku – but is it conceivable he can resurrect his career at Stamford Bridge?
Faulks: You can attribute Chelsea’s goalscoring problems to many things, but sometimes the answer is staring you in the face.
They do not have a consistent striker in the squad and haven’t had one for years. It is evidently a hard problem to solve, but they will not compete for the top four – let alone the title – until they figure it out.
Pick Chelsea’s best team
Predict Chelsea’s starting XI for their next fixture – remember you can change the formation!
By Joe Bradshaw
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